NEW CAR REVIEW : Corvette E-Ray vs Porsche 911 GTS: The Perfect Modern Sports Cars?
America’s sports car champion is the Corvette, Europe’s the Porsche 911, but what happens when two icons from either side of the Atlantic get electrified? This is the first hybrid Corvette, the E-Ray, against the first (road-legal) hybrid Porsche 911, the 992.2 generation Carrera GTS.
🚗 Porsche 911 GTS + Corvette E-Ray
America’s sports car champion is the Corvette, Europe’s the Porsche 911, but what happens when two icons from either side of the Atlantic get electrified? This is the first hybrid Corvette, the E-Ray, against the first (road-legal) hybrid Porsche 911, the 992.2 generation Carrera GTS.
🚗 Porsche 911 GTS + Corvette E-Ray
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MotorTranscript
00:00Porsche and Corvette have been fierce rivals on road and track for literally decades now.
00:05And today we've got two new versions, the hybrids, the Corvette E-Rate and the 911 GTS-T hybrid.
00:12So I guess we want to know which one's best and have they fundamentally changed what they are with this new technology?
00:21I really hope not.
00:30I know the photographers like the roof off but it's like a million degrees so I'm going to press all this thing back on.
00:48It's true that Porsche and Corvette have always come at being the definitive sports car from very different angles.
00:55Porsche's are small and sophisticated and sort of efficient in the way they go about it.
01:01Whereas traditionally Corvette has been more about displacement of course,
01:05sort of industrial engineering and a good helping of brute force.
01:11But over time and with this new mid-engine platform it's only natural that they started to converge in
01:18on the best way to create a really really good sports car and now they've come even closer because both
01:27have had to embrace hybridization and the key is they've embraced it for performance not for efficiency.
01:33However some things are still within our traditional frames of reference.
01:38This thing the E-Rate is $118,000 or thereabouts in its home market.
01:43We have a Carrera 4 GTS, $172,000 maybe a little bit more, $206,000 as tested so the price gap remains huge.
01:57The performance gap is much tighter and follows the pattern you might expect.
02:01The E-Rate has a considerable power advantage but a bigger footprint and more mass to accelerate,
02:06brake and turn.
02:07The E-Rate shares the wide track, wide body configuration with the track focus Z06 but instead
02:13of the wild flat plane crank V8 utilizes the base model Stingray's 6.2 litre small block and then
02:20supplements it with an electrically powered front axle.
02:23The combined output is 655 horsepower and 595 foot-pounds of torque.
02:28Good enough for 0-60 in a claim 2.5 seconds and 183 miles an hour despite weighing 1765 kilos.
02:37The Porsche Carrera GTS4 takes a different approach. The four-wheel drive system is mechanical,
02:42featuring a multi-plate clutch to engage the front axle dynamically when required. The T-Hybrid system is
02:48shared with the standard GTS so the 3.6 litre flat six with electric turbocharger, electric motor in the
02:54PDK box and small battery are unchanged. Total power is rated at 478 brake horsepower and 420 foot-pounds
03:04of torque. Good for 0-60 in 3 seconds dead and 194 miles an hour. The Porsche weighs 1645 kilos and the GTS
03:12spec also means 10 mil lower PASM sports suspension and rear steering. Philosophically different then
03:19but homing in on a similar result. But which one is best?
03:22The torquey, slightly more relaxed nature of the car in general should suit the hybridisation so in
03:36one way that's absolutely in keeping with what the Corvette's all about but because it's got
03:44electrically powered front axle, the first four-wheel drive Corvette, you can actually have it front-wheel
03:48drive in stealth mode for a little bit, then that does fundamentally change what this car's about.
03:55I guess a lot of people when they think Corvette probably think a lot of grip, not a great deal of
04:03handling finesse and a sort of simple super oversteery old-fashioned driving experience.
04:12In fact, the car just generally has a level of sophistication when you get in it. The interior
04:20is, I would say, an acquired taste and there's quite a lot going on. The driving position's a little bit
04:25higher than you might think but I love how far forward it feels like you're right over the front
04:30axle. There's a great view out and there's a ride quality. It's got magnetic dampers and in
04:36the lowest motor mode, it rides absolutely beautiful, there's actual clarity to the steering
04:43and so the whole thing feels very stable, very sophisticated but as you go quicker
04:50they've really cleverly balanced this front axle because I think in certain cars when you have these
05:01electric power front axles, they feel a little bit artificial. They do things that you don't expect
05:08and it takes you out of the driving experience. Suddenly you're a little bit separate from what's
05:16happening but this car doesn't do that. It just gives you really nice traction, a really nice balance
05:23and you feel like you're getting assistance. You know, you're being helped but you're not being robbed
05:30of feel or feedback or interaction. The engine is fantastic. I should say the powertrain is fantastic
05:39because the old V8 doesn't rev high, 6600 rev limit but it's got that lovely noise and throttle response.
05:48But it's also got a new trick so this car doesn't want to disguise it's a hybrid. It sort of celebrates
05:57it. It's really clever that dynamically it utilizes that front axle well without it being overwhelming
06:05or dominating the experience but when you punch it you've got this strange noise which is like a mixture
06:14of like an old-fashioned pipe organ and a sci-fi plasma gun. It's really weird but I quite like the way
06:26Corvette have integrated this hybrid system. I'm sort of celebrating the old and the new at the same time
06:36which is pretty cool actually.
06:38So the E-Ray makes a strong first impression. There's so much more instant torque than the Z06
06:46but greater control than the Stingray. The soundscape is contrived but quite fun and with so many modes
06:51to choose from there's the promise that the E-Ray can grow in stature as your confidence and commitment
06:57increases. The GTS4 has a worthy rival.
07:02Porsches really are such a pain because the Corvette makes such a good impression
07:11but as soon as you jump in this car some of the fundamentals feel so good and so natural in the
07:18that as I mentioned in the Corvette you're a little bit high where you get in this you're sat way down
07:26on the ground the view's fantastic the steering wheel's got loads of adjustment in it and you
07:33you feel immediately at home and that's what Porsches have always done.
07:38The GTS is really interesting because they've gone a completely different way with their hybridization
07:45they don't really want you to know this is a hybrid in any way shape or form. In fact this new 3.6 litre
07:53single turbo electrical turbocharger
07:58is a much nicer engine than the three litre twin turbo that we've had to get used to recently since
08:05Porsche went turbocharged with even the Carrera and Carrera S models. It's just got a bit more character to
08:12it somehow it sounds a bit better it revs really nicely at the top end
08:21and the way the hybrid system works to cut the lag is really really clever it doesn't feel quite
08:33normally aspirated but it's so close and then it's got that lovely reach at the top end like big turbo
08:41when Corvette's running out of puff at 6600 up yeah this thing's up over seven and a half thousand
08:50and somehow Porsche have managed to make a 3.6 litre single turbo motor feel every bit as powerful
09:01and on it as a 6.2 litre VA plus an electric motor driving the front axle with 655 total horsepower this
09:12thing is rapid that fundamental rightness in the driving position also translates into the dynamics the car the
09:22steering has more life to it the car feels narrower it feels lighter and it feels a bit more up on its toes
09:32it feels short and agile and like it wants you to tell it what to do and it's going to respond
09:40it's got it's not instability here but it's got that lovely sort of fast twitch response that you get
09:47with a slightly smaller lighter car
09:52so far it's advantage Porsche then and it's because it sticks to its long practiced core qualities that
09:58it feels so intuitive and exploitable
10:03so it's a really promising start for this car
10:08the only question marks i have is if i ramp everything up turn everything off
10:14and start extracting all of that lovely performance is it going to come with me or is it gonna
10:21give me very clear messages that i should slow down there's an awful lot of traction control modes in
10:28this car as well but i don't feel like i need to lean on them it's really good on the track
10:35i want to get past that and see how this thing starts to perform
10:39i've backed the dampers off a little bit back the steering off as much as i can but got everything else
10:44ramped up the performance is good it maintains this lovely lack of understeer brake feel is pretty good
10:56but the tires these huge tires start to really have to work to keep all this force in control
11:06lovely traction though really frees you up that front axle to use the power it's a good thing this
11:18the temptation is just to think well why would you have this when you can have
11:23the z06 which i completely understand and if you're on the track all the time yes but the z06 has
11:31this weird thing where it doesn't actually feel that quick a lot of the time because it's so top-endy
11:40and this thing has just that punch of the big va and the hybrid so it's it's pretty nice it has the
11:51weird third to fourth gap that all ca corvettes have so you've got nicely stacked first second third
11:59and then you've got fourth and it's sort of it kills everything luckily this car has that torque fill
12:07so it's not quite as much of a problem you know what this thing is good it definitely feels bigger
12:17and heavier than the porsche
12:21but it does give you a great deal of confidence
12:24the e-ray is a really good road car and it doesn't wilt under extreme provocation not at all
12:34yet neither does it quite elevate itself to a new more exciting and satisfying level which brings us
12:41back to the porsche
12:44so what if we go and unleash it fully this has got the pdcc and if i turn it up
12:52what i was looking for in the corvette which was a bit more agility response sense that i was getting
13:00hooked deeper into the driving experience that happens i didn't used to like the pdcc system the
13:08active roll have really nailed it now and this car it doesn't ride as well as the corvette and it's
13:15noisy on the freeway but when you go into the stiff mode it's worth it's worth that extra um it's not
13:28harshness it's worth putting up with a slightly stiffer ride because the control ramps up the steering
13:34seems to become more responsive there's more feel and i know people are slightly snobby about four
13:42wheel drive 911s i think they're mega i really really like them you have to unlock even further
13:51how to drive them and for me that's what the 911 is anyway it's it's a conundrum that once you
13:58understand and can make it work it's endlessly rewarding and the four wheel drive system just adds a
14:05bit to that i think it slightly dulls the steering it makes it just a little bit heavier tiny bit of
14:12corruption but i love the the way they retain that lovely rear engine digging you out the corner feel
14:21the car wants to move around but there's an added bit of uh drive from the front axle so you have to
14:27just engage your brain slightly differently but i really really enjoy it i think it's a lot of fun
14:34and it actually can feel a bit edgier than a rear wheel drive car because there's a bit more going on
14:40yeah this thing is fantastic if there's anything to criticize on this car it's this is going to sound
14:49strange because no one ever criticizes the pdk box um i wonder if there's something about the electric
14:56motor within the box that's changed it slightly because just occasionally it's not giving me
15:04the downshift just when i want it um and even a couple of the upshifts have been a bit lazy so
15:11okay that's it that's my uh that's me done with the big criticisms the cars it's good
15:19yeah when things start to really challenge you bumps in the road it narrows down there's rock faces
15:30there's trees encroaching the level of confidence and accuracy this car equips you with is just
15:40sort of next level from the corvette the corvette's a really cool thing um and enjoyable like it's an
15:50enjoyable car to hustle along and in isolation you're like okay i get it this thing this thing's
16:00right on it but it doesn't take long in fact it's immediate that the porsche takes the blinkers off
16:08and opens out a whole new world of opportunity and fun so the creep of tech emissions legislation and
16:17safety requirements keeps on attacking the sports car genre but luckily the genius engineers continue to
16:24find ways to keep their spirit alive i think it's fair to say that the 911 carrera gts4 beats the corvette
16:31e-ray for pure driving enjoyment but both value and celebrate what made these cars so iconic in the
16:38first place and in the case of the corvette bring a new dimension to the experience we will take that